1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera, or more particularly, a camera having a means for locating a Patrone, which is mounted in a Patrone stowage chamber in a camera body, at a given position.
2. Description of the Related Art
A compact camera adapted to a 35-mm film Patrone (hereinafter simply a Patrone) in which a roll film for photography of 35 mm wide is wound and stowed has prevailed in the past.
When photography is carried out using such a compact camera, a Patrone having an unexposed film stowed therein is mounted in a camera body in advance. The procedure usually adopted will be described below.
That is to say, first, a back cover pivoted to the backside of the camera body so that it can be opened or closed freely is left open. The Patrone is stowed in a film Patrone stowage chamber (hereinafter a Patrone stowage chamber) located at one lateral end in the camera body. A film tip is pulled out of the Patrone, and arranged at a given position in the camera body. The back cover is then closed. Thus, mounting the Patrone in the camera body is completed, and the camera is set to a photography-ready state.
However, although the Patrone is not mounted in a normal state in the Patrone stowage chamber, the back cover may be closed. In this case, the film tip pulled out of the Patrone is not wound normally in a film wind chamber located at the other lateral end in the camera body. Imperfect film feed causing a film jam or the like may occur. Otherwise, since the back cover is not closed perfectly, a gap may be created between the camera body and back cover. This poses a problem that a film may be exposed because of light leakage through the gap.
A means for positioning a Patrone to be mounted in a normal state in a camera body has been proposed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 60-78028.
In the Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 60-78028, a proposal is made for a camera in which an elastic member attached to a back cover presses the outer circumference of a Patrone in the course of closing the back cover in order to bring the Patrone stowed in a Patrone stowage chamber to a steady posture of a normal state.
By contrast, in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 61-132823 or the like, another camera has been proposed and put to practical use in recent years. In the camera, an opening is formed at a position on the back cover of the camera opposed to a Patrone stowage chamber. A check window formed with a transparent member or the like is created in the opening so that whether or not a Patrone is mounted in a camera body can be checked through the check window. When a Patrone is mounted, information written at a given position on the outer circumference of the Patrone, that is, character information such as a type of film and film speed concerning a film stowed in the Patrone can be checked through the check window.
Like the camera disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 61-132823, when a check window is created in a back cover, there arises a problem that unnecessary light invades into a camera body through the check window, and a film loaded in the camera body is exposed.
For preventing this problem, a light interceptive member such as an elastic foaming member is located near the opening in the back cover. When the back cover is closed relative to the camera body, the light interceptive member meets and presses part of the outer circumference of a Patrone mounted in the camera body. Thus, the light interceptive member intercepts light from entering through a gap between the opening in the back cover and the Patrone. This results in a lighttight state.
Moreover, the light interceptive member such as an elastic foam member fills the role of holding a mounted Patrone at a given position with the back cover closed.
However, according to the means disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 60-78028, a component such as an elastic member is needed to hold a Patrone in a steady posture in the camera body. This leads to an increase in manufacturing cost. Moreover, a space is required for stowing the component such as an elastic member in the camera body. This poses a problem that the camera becomes large.
On the other hand, according to the means disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 61-132823, there is a problem. Specifically, when a Patrone is stowed in the Patrone stowage chamber, although the Patrone is not mounted in a normal state but a film feed port of the Patrone is floating above a given position, the back cover may be closed. In this case, when the outer circumference of the Patrone and the elastic foam member meet in the course of closing the back cover, the back cover would be closed with the feed port of the Patrone floating because of the operation of frictional force. In this case, the back cover is not closed perfectly. This poses a problem of light leakage. through a gap between the camera body and back lid.